Sickness And
by Dotskip317
Summary: The Condor crashes during a battle and Stork gets trapped inside. He gets out, but not without some pretty serious damage. SxP. 'Cause that's how I roll.
1. crash

_"You aren't a hero, and I'm not beautiful, and we probably won't live happily ever after, but we're alive, and together, and we're going to be all right."  
--Hester, "Mortal Engines," Philip Reeve_

* * *

"Stork, what are you doing?! Pull up!" The pilot threw himself against the controls, forcing them to turn. They weren't responding the way they were supposed to and he was fighting just to keep from crashing into the many rocky crags rising out of the wastelands around him. It might have been easier if the Condor was going slower, but he couldn't knock off any speed or the Cyclonians on their tails would be on top of them in a second. "Stork! Come on, you're too low!"

Stork growled at his Sky Knight's impatience. "I _know_ Aerrow! I can't get any altitude without losing speed!" He slammed his shoulder into the handles to swing the carrier ship around one of the flying rocks that had just shot up at him. "Just one more minute…" He muttered, straining his eyes to see if he could spot the base of terra Rex through the smoke. Suddenly a solid rock wall rose up in front of the bridge windows. Stork tightened his grip on the steering and yanked it to the floor. The Condor went vertical and shot through the cloud line after the rest of his squadron's skimmers. He wrestled her back to horizontal once they had cleared the edge of the terra.

"Woo!"

"Nice flying, Stork!"

Stork grinned and continued to steer the ship with his entire body. It was taking all his concentration just to get her to respond. A blast of red energy rocked the hull. Stork groaned and tried to stay in control of this speeding hunk of metal.

He felt the engine explode.

He didn't just feel the ripples of energy and the Condor suddenly spinning out of control, he actually felt the metal splinter and snap and drop away from the main body of the ship. He stopped paying attention for a split second, startled that he was so in tune with the carrier that he could feel her individual bolts breaking away.

It was a wonder that he didn't feel her hit the ground.

* * *

Something was digging into his back when he came to. He groggily pried his eyes open and looked around. He was wedged in among the remains of the Condor's caved in roof and something wet was dripping steadily down the back of his neck. He made to reach up and wipe it away but found that he couldn't. He tugged at his arms, but they wouldn't move. He looked up, leaning his head against the scrap metal behind him. A spot of blue sky peered down at him through the gloom. "Hello?" He called softly. The glint of heliscooter blades crossed over the jagged hole and the sound of yelling reached his ears. "Hello?"

"Stork?!" The hole widened as metal plate were shifted away from the opening and Stork squinted as sunlight poured into his cramped den. "Stork! Are you okay?" Stork smiled at the vague figure with Piper's voice. He was dazed and dizzy and some strange combination of numbness and excruciating pain. "Stork! Say something!" She begged as she came into focus. He could see the worry etched into her face.

He coughed, stuttered, and tried to explain. "Condor… Engine blew… Stuck… Help….please?" The distant yelling got louder and for a moment he couldn't see her. "Piper?"

"I'm still here. Don't worry."

Stork smiled faintly and closed his eyes, letting the sound drift over him. "You have to get her out of there!" Harrier's voice was muffled by distance and layers of metal. "Your ship crashed into an Electron crystal deposit and your engine crystals are going to overload any moment!"

"Piper, what are you doing?!" It was Aerrow, confused and desperate.

Stork flinched as Piper called back, her voice too loud for comfort. "I found Stork! We've got to get him out of here!"

"Young lady, you have to move!" Stork's eyes flew open. Piper was being forcibly dragged from the opening she had created. _She's leaving?_ The navigator disappeared from view.

"No! Stork's in there! He's stuck! We have to get him out!"

"Miss-"

"NO!" There was a dull clank and a yelp and Piper was back. She slid legs first into the hole and landed beside him. "Don't worry, Stork, I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Not…" He mumbled. _I'm not worried._ His eyesight slid out of focus again and he leaned against the makeshift wall to his left. Suddenly his throat burned and he was biting off a scream he didn't even know he started. His hands. His hands were on _fire._

Piper had tears running down her face. "I'm sorry." She whispered and leaned down on her staff again. Stork felt like his lungs were about to explode he was trying so hard not to make a sound. Piper was trying to lever the overwhelming crush of debris off his forearms. He hadn't even realized it was there until it started shifting. He was crying. It hurt so much, and he couldn't even feel the rest of his arms to move them away. Piper wedged her staff against the floor and the movement stopped. The pain stopped too, replaced almost instantly with the all-forgiving nothingness from before. Piper dropped to the floor and scooted so she could see what was wrong. "Gods…" She breathed. _What? What's wrong? Am I caught on something?_ She scrambled back out and reached into his pocket, much to his confusion pulling out a screwdriver and, without saying anything, diving back under. Suddenly his arms fell to his sides.

"See? Not worried." He smiled shakily, trying not to have a panic attack. He still couldn't feel anything past his wrists. Piper was all-out crying by then and pulled one of his arms over her shoulders without responding. Another wave of dizziness washed over Stork and he almost fell over.

"Gods, Stork… I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry!" _Why?_ He wondered silently. It was his fault the Condor had crashed, that the Cyclonians had most likely gotten away. Why should she be sorry?

They were struggling to pull themselves out of the wreckage, Piper picking out handholds wherever she could with her free hand and Stork pushing them along with his feet whenever he could. "Here they come! Grab her!" Piper stubbornly wrapped her arms around his waist and dragged him up with her as she was pulled to safety. He was being dragged across the ground now and could see Piper being pulled toward the rest of the squadron, who all looked very confused and were trying to figure out what was going on. She was yelling something he couldn't pick out through the ringing in his ears.

She broke away and ran to him. He stopped moving across the ground and she fell to her knees next to him, pulling his head onto her lap. "Stork…"

He looked back the way he had come and saw the remains of his ship sticking out of the ground. Suddenly there was a rumbling from the ground and a brilliant yellow flash erupted from the ground. The metal crawled with crackling electricity and blown fuses exploded out the sides of the hull and the engines. One especially violent one tore a hole the size of a fully transformed skimmer from the small tunnel Piper had dragged them out of. "Lucky bastard," one of the Rex Guardians grumbled from behind him. "No one would have survived that blast."

He looked back up at Piper and smiled. "Thank you." He mumbled.

She was still crying. Having his head in her lap was like looking straight up during a rainstorm. "Are- Are you- How do you feel?"

"Kinda dizz-" His world went black. It was sudden, but it didn't seem strange until he woke back up. It was as though he had blinked and in that split second had somehow been transported to an off-white hospital room and hit over the head several times with a hammer. He groaned and tried to sit up but fell back, somehow off-balance. He blinked several times and looked up at the poorly stuccoed ceiling above him. "What the frik?" He muttered.

"Stork?" He looked toward the source of the voice. Piper had her head poked into the room through the half-open doorway, her eyes wide. He blinked at her. "Stork!" Relief broke over her face. "You're awake! Guys! He's awake!" She called down the hallway and rushed to his bedside. Her relief was quickly replaced with worry. "Are you okay? How do you feel? Can you see me alright? How many fingers am I holding up? Do you have any idea how worried we've been about you?!?!"

"Uhh… no?" He almost laughed at her expression. "I meant no to the last one. What happened?" The explosion flashed through his mind's eye. "Where's the Condor?"

She exhaled, relieved once more. "At least we know there's nothing wrong with that part of you. You blacked out near the crash. You had a cut on the back of your head and you lost a lot of blood. And yes, the Condor's fine. The Rex Guardians are keeping her in the arena while Junko and the guys are working on fixing her. She's almost back to her normal state of disrepair." She smiled. "You'd be proud of Finn at least, he promised not to touch the engine or the steering or- pretty much anything that qualifies as vaguely important, and he's been doing a passable job of helping out."

"Are you sure? What about the crystal converters? Are the-"

She laughed and he stopped, perplexed. "Don't worry; we've got everything under control."

The rest of the Storm Hawks crashed into the room and surrounded his bed. Finn grinned. "Stork! Dude, you're finally awake!"

"We were afraid you wouldn't." Junko said. He was smiling, but Stork could see that he was close to bursting into tears. "Sorry we haven't been here. We've been fixing the Condor for you."

"But it's not like you were alone." Aerrow put in. He was smiling, but the crossed arms meant that he was just pulling out of 'leader mode.' Someone had probably been treating him like just another kid again. He hated it when that happened. "Piper was with you the whole time. We couldn't drag her away for anything! She was so worried about you that we had to remind her to eat!"

"That's not true!" Piper said, blushing. "It only happened once!"

Stork smiled nervously. He was getting a little claustrophobic from all the attention. "Thank you. Um, can I sit up now?"

"Sure!"

Piper and Aerrow slid their arms behind his back and helped him sit up. He noticed for the first time that his arms were tied into plastic braces that were strung up to the ceiling. He tried to move them, but they wouldn't respond. "Uh…" His eyes went wide and he looked around frantically at the faces of his teammates, but none of them could meet his gaze. "Guys? Piper? What happened? Why can't I move my arms?"

"Stork…" Piper rested a hand on his shoulder and sat down next to him. She was close to tears.

"What's going on?!"

"I'm afraid there's a reason your friends don't want to tell you." Stork looked up. A tall blonde doctor in a lab coat had entered with his notice. "Your hands were badly injured in the crash. They wouldn't still be attached to your body if your friend hadn't had the idea of removing the handles of your steering console to get you out. Currently, your bones from the wrist down somewhat resemble fine gravel." Stork whimpered and closed his eyes. "We've managed to reconstruct the general bone structure, but it's only temporary. We have to wait for the healing process to get fully underway before we can set them completely." The doctor paused, giving the pilot a chance to soak in the information. Stork was having a hard time keeping his breathing even. "We have a surgery planned for two weeks from now. It should set your bones to re-grow into their original formation."

"See, Stork?" Piper said from next to him, fear evident in her voice. "They can fix you. It's going to be alright."

The doctor cleared his throat. "Unfortunately," He began again. Stork looked up suddenly and Piper tried to signal to the man with her eyes to stop talking, that nothing else needed to be said just yet, but he was either indifferent to her wishes or couldn't read her that well. "Unfortunately the operation has a relatively low success rate. Damage this severe only lowers the odds." Stork bit his lower lip and focused on the bed sheets over his lap. Piper's grip tightened on his shoulder and her other arm slid around his waist, hugging him gently. He didn't bother pulling away from her touch. "You have about a fifteen percent chance of a complete recovery. Another fifty says that there will be some nerve damage from the operation itself and you won't be able to regain full mobility. There's a ten percent chance of the bones growing in incorrectly. There are many outcomes from that, unfortunately the majority of them aren't too good."

"That leaves twenty-five." Stork mumbled.

The doctor nodded sadly. "Yes. Those are the odds that no mobility will be recovered through the operation. I'm sorry."

Stork choked back the tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. "Please leave." He whispered. The doctor nodded respectfully and walked out without a word. Piper's hug tightened. "I- don't think I should be sitting up right now."

Aerrow helped lower him back into the bed. Stork watched the braces sink lower so they were hanging about a foot up from the mattress and eight inches over from his torso. "Stork, we-"

"I'm sorry, Aerrow-"

"You don't-"

"-But could you please leave?" _Don't cry, not yet. Wait until they leave. They can't see you cry. It would only make things worse._ "Please?" Aerrow started to protest, but the others were already headed to the door. He took one last look at Stork and walked out to the hallway. "Piper?" The navigator paused in the doorway and he hesitated. "Piper, don't leave. I- need you here."

She glanced out the door and pushed it shut, then made her way over to the bed. "Why did the others have to leave then?"

He shook his head. "They don't- don't-" The first tear skidded down his cheek, hot from being held back too long. _Damn it._ He squeezed his eyes shut against the flood until it was too much to take, then submitted to the deluge.

"Shh, it's okay." She brushed away the boiling liquid until there were too many drops to catch, then crawled onto the bed with him and curled up against his side and listened to him cry. It was surreal. Stork didn't cry. He had panic attacks and freaked out over the strangest things, but he didn't cry. But he also didn't crash. Ever. He wasn't called the best pilot in the Atmos for nothing. The past few days had seemed like a dream, slipping effortlessly from one nightmarish scene to another without any sort of rhyme or reason. She rested her head of his chest. It was shaking as the pilot tried to keep his quiet sobs contained. She closed her eyes and drifted into the state of half-sleep she had perfected. Just awake enough to be aware of his every movement. So when she felt him slip into sleep she could follow after him gratefully.

* * *

_Yeah, I know, It's been a while. I'm actually done typing this though, which is a freakin' miracle if you know me at all. I'm an obscenely slow typer. It's probably going to take me twenty minutes just to get the header and footer down on this. Don't worry, I'm still working on other stuff, but I needed to feel good about myself, so I decided to bang this out and get something posted that I can actually finish within a reasonable amount of time._

_Your reviews are greatly appreciated._

_I'll post more tomorrow._

_My thanks and my love, Dotskip._

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	2. burn

_"Soon I will be done with the troubles of the world, troubles of the world, troubles of the world, soon I will be done with the troubles of the world, gone to live with God."  
--"Gone to Live With God," African Folk Song_

* * *

He let the cold water pour over his head and push his hair into his face, creating a curtain of blackness between him and the rest of the world. Or at least the rest of the bathroom. Reaching out with one three-toed foot, he turned off the water and pulled back the shower curtain. He flicked his wet hair out of his face and deftly threw the towel into the air so it landed on his head. He reached up and rubbed it with his forearms, dying himself as best he could with no fingers. Finally giving up, he let the cloth fall to the floor in disgust and glared at his hands. At where his hands should have been. They were still there somewhere, under several layers of plastic and plaster and gauze and metal bracers. He was immobilized from the wrist down. He growled and stepped into his pants. He shoved his feet through the holes and crouched down to the floor. Grabbing the elastic with his teeth, he stood, bringing the pants up to his waist. He had had to give up his regular triple-belted uniform as soon as he left the hospital. His couldn't work any sort of buttons or snaps or buckles or or _or_. Or _anything._ It had taken him half an hour just to get the first one undone, because there was no way he was asking anyone for help getting out of his pants.

He tossed the towel back onto the drying rack with one foot and walked out of the bathroom. The halls of the Condor were cool and quiet, mostly because everyone but him was outside putting the finishing touches on the Condor's new paintjob. Piper said it was his 'welcome home' present. He was pretty sure it was just an excuse for the rest of the squadron to get away from him. It wasn't that he was being particularly bossy or anything, but he was beginning to smell _terrible._ Even he had noticed, but it was just so hard to do anything that he didn't want to bother. But as long as no one was around who might witness his battle with clothing he had figured he might as well get clean. The door to his room slid open and he stepped inside. _Alright then shirt. _He said to himself, glaring at the top half of his uniform from across the room. _Do your worst._

Piper heard the burst of profanity from his room as she passed it on her way to the bridge. "Stupid- won't- work- rrgh…" She slid the door open and clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Stork was sitting on the edge of his bed and was trying desperately to get into his uniform, but had managed to get it tangled around his head instead. She could see one of his ears sticking out the neck hole and hear Stork muttering to himself as he struggled to fix his mistake. He finally stopped trying and sighed, then let himself fall backwards onto the bed.

Piper smiled. "No wonder it took this long to get you to change clothes!" He sat up quickly and she strode across the room, reaching him and lifting the fabric away from his face. He had a dark green blush heating his cheeks. "You want some help?"

"No. But I think I'm gonna need it anyway."

She pulled his shirt off and straightened it out, grinning. "Here we go, arms first." He stuck his arms through the sleeves and let her pull the middle hole over his head. She pulled it the rest of the way down, straightening out the wrinkles. "See? That wasn't so bad." She looked up at him and her smile faded. He was looking off to the side, his face returned to its now typical rut of passive depression. "Stork…" She sat down on his lap to get his attention. "Come on Stork, there's only five more days left to wait, and then you'll be on your way back to normal. You'll be able fly the Condor again." She said hopefully, trying to get him to smile.

He glanced at her. "That's not going to happen and you know it."

"Yes it is!" She said, jumping up angrily. He couldn't say that, she wouldn't let him. "You'll be flying the Condor and fixing the Storkmobile and yelling at Finn for playing guitar too loud and everything!" He smiled. That infuriating, you-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about, smile that she got every time they got on this subject. "You _will!_" She practically yelled. Gods… she hated him so much when this happened. She hated him for maybe being right and having the odds on his side of the argument.

"Piper." He said quietly, trying to bring her back from her anger, but she turned and stormed out of the room. She headed to the bridge and pulled out a sheaf of maps from where she had been keeping them under the table. She didn't look up five minutes later when the swish of the doors opening signaled Stork's entrance. Something crashed to the floor behind her. There was a pause and then: "Crud." Finally she turned around. Stork was on his knees on the floor, pushing a dishtowel around with his bandaged clubs, cleaning up the pool of brown liquid from where he had dropped the mug of hot chocolate he had been carrying. The metal mug hadn't sustained any damage from the fall. He glanced up at her, met her gaze, and went back to cleaning. "Sorry." He muttered.

"Apology chocolate?" She asked, smiling sadly. She had told him once that the only real way to ask for forgiveness was with chocolate. He had thought about it for a while and then one night she had gone back to her room to find a bar sitting on her pillow. Neither of them was quite sure what he was supposed to be apologizing for, but whatever it was, that did it.

"Attempted apology chocolate in any case." He mumbled. Finished, he picked up the soaked towel and the cup and tucked them into the crook of one arm. Without saying another word he walked out of the room.

Piper hesitated and the followed him into the kitchen. "Hey Stork, I-" She stopped when she saw him. He had set the mug and cloth on the counter and was staring at the sink as though he had never seen such a strange contraption before. "Stork…"

"I feel like such an idiot." He mumbled. He turned to face her and she could see that he was practically drowning in irritation. "I feel so _useless._ I can't even do the _dishes_ like this! And please don't say that I'm going to be able to soon." He added, cutting her off. "I want that to be true. You know I do! And I know you think part of the reason I keep saying that the operation isn't going to work is that I like to complain, but it's not. Piper… if I don't have the Condor- then I don't have anything."

He slumped into a chair and she sat down next to him. "That's not true! You have the Storm Hawks." _You have me._

"No. I don't. I'm terrible at hand-to-hand combat, and I can't shoot straight to save my life. I'm not strong like Junko or smart like you or anything that even vaguely resembles _brave._ If I can't fly the Condor I'm no use to anyone."

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks to the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and making it hard to breathe. "You mean- if this doesn't work- if you can't be a pilot anymore- you're-"

"I'm leaving the Storm Hawks." He looked up into her shocked face. "It only makes sense. I'm no good to you like this."

"But-but- You can't!"

"Piper-"

"No!" She jumped up. "You don't understand! You can't leave! You're the only one who knows me at all, who thinks I'm more than just a dumb girl! You- You-" Her words were lost as she burst into tears. Stunned, Stork stood quickly, then paused uneasily and looked at her. Finally he wrapped his arms around her in an awkward no-hands hug. Her crying subsided. "Stork?"

He couldn't see her face from where he was. "Mm?"

"How come you're not afraid to touch me anymore?"

"I- I-don't know." He thought about it. It wasn't that he wasn't afraid to touch her now; it was more like the threat was gone. Like her cloud of germs and bacteria had changed to match his and he wasn't at any more risk from her cloud than he was from his own. The others' germs were still just as dangerous and volatile as ever, but Piper… she was safe. His arms tightened around her and she brought her arms around his waist so the hug was mutual. _She's safe. _"I don't know." _Safe is good._

Piper rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him. "That's fine, as long as you know that this will always be okay." Stork smiled nervously, but it was gone in a flash and he quickly stepped away from her. Her face fell. "What is it?"

He nodded toward the door a half a second before Finn came shooting around the corner and ruined the moment. "Stork! You showered!"

"Yes…"

"Finally!" Piper smacked him hard across his upper arm. "Ow! What?"

Stork smiled.

* * *

He smiled when Aerrow almost didn't pull up fast enough for a non-crash landing at the hospital and skidded to a halt two inches from one of the walls. He smiled as the doctors cut the layers and layers of bandages off his hands, freeing the muscles to move against the shattered bone and shoot rocket fuel based pain up his arms. He smiled as he was wheeled into the operating room, Piper hanging onto his shoulder and hurting him more than she could imagine or he could bear to tell her. He smiled through the glass window up at his squadron as the surgeons ran around the operating room and the blonde doctor from his first visit fitted the laughing gas mask over his face. The smiled didn't fit his face and he was constantly aware of it through everything else that was going on, and that was why he needed it. He needed it because at least if this uncomfortable, awkward little half-smile hovered about him, then no one could see him writhing around on the inside. Shrinking back from everyone's touch. Trying not to scream from frustration and agony and just plain _hurt._

"Count backwards from ten." The doctor ordered.

Stork trained his eyes on the glass panel on the slanted wall far above him. Finn and Junko waved at him. "Ten… nine… eight… six…" He almost laughed. _No sevens, go fish. _"Five…… five…" Piper reflected his smile back at him though the window. "Four…"

* * *

_See? Chapter two. I wasn't lying. I'm trying to use this interlude to finish "Blue Moon", "Dance With Me", and, of course, the saga that no one cares about any more (if they ever did) "Crossroads and Crash Landings". It is taking me forever, even though I have most of the rest of these stories written out already, because I am a slow slow slow slow slow slow typer. Did I mention that I'm slow? It's gonna take me the rest of tonight just to get the rest of chapter three of "Dance With Me" onto my computer, not to mention editing it. So there, I'm done complaining now._

_Your reviews are appreciated, as always._

_My love and my longing, Dotskip._

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	3. smoke

_"I'll hide from the world behind a broken frame  
And I'll burn forever, I can't face the shame  
And I'll hide from the world behind a broken frame  
And I'll burn forever, I can't face the shame..."_  
_--Muse, "Sunburn"_

* * *

It was quiet on the Condor. It was actually quiet a lot of the time. No one had really felt like running around yelling like they usually did since Stork had gotten back from the hospital six weeks before. Right then it was just quiet on the bridge, almost everyone working wordlessly on something in some corner or another. Stork sat and watched Piper flying the Condor from the long couch next to the bridge table. "Move a little further down the handlebars." She did as he instructed, sliding her hands closer to the ends of the steering. "Good."

She laughed. "Stork, I can barely hold on like this! My arms just don't go that wide; I'm going to have to hold it differently if I want to stay in any kind of control!"

"Hm." He stood and walked over behind her. His arms were currently crossed over his chest and held in place by a pair of slings, adding yet another layer of padding between his still healing hands and the world. The braces went from his shoulders to his hands, enveloping them and hiding them from view, along with the casts and metal brackets he was forced to wear. He poked his head over her shoulder and examined her grip on the Condor's controls. "Fine, how would you do it?" Piper let go of the controls for a moment, quickly shook out her arms, and grabbed on again. Her new position was much more fitting for her size, but still… "That's okay for short distances, but if you want to be able to stand there and drive for any longer than an hour you're going to have to figure out something that takes less energy to maintain. And you feet are too close together again." He added, shoving a foot between her calves and moving her legs apart for her.

"I'm starting to think you're only so picky about that because you like correcting my posture." She said with a grin, glancing up at him.

Stork fought back a smile. "Hey, you're the one who keeps standing like that. If anything, you're the one who wants me there."

"Oh, gross!" The two of them turned to look at Finn standing in the doorway, his face twisted into an expression of purposefully exaggerated disgust. "Man did I walk in at the wrong time!"

Piper rolled her eyes and went back to focusing on the skies. "Come on, Finn, you know we're just joking."

"Nuh-uh! Get a room you two!" Piper glared at the open bridge window and on cue Stork moved closer. Grinning, she reached into his pocket and pulled out a wrench, deftly whirling around and throwing it at the sharpshooter's head. "Gah!" Finn ducked and the tool bounced off the wall behind him. "Why do you even have that in your pocket?! It's not like you can use it!" The bridge went still and realization dawned on him too late. "Oh- sorry Stork, I-"

"Actually I put it there specifically so Piper could throw it at people."

Finn blinked, confused. "What?"

"You're right, I can't use it, and if she carried it around it would raise suspicion."

"…So you put it in _your_ pocket?"

"Yep." He turned back to staring out the window, leaving Finn just as baffled as before. He glanced at the dials on the control console. "Five degrees off yaw." He whispered.

Piper checked the monitors and corrected it for him. "Thanks." She whispered back.

"No problem."

"Hey Stork?"

"Mm?"

She caught his eye and smiled. "Why are we whispering?"

* * *

Piper watched from the doorway. Stork was standing in front of the Condor's controls, his arms hanging limply at his sides. The doctor had said not to try anything to drastic for at least twenty-four hours after the bracing was removed, and there he was, with two minutes to go. He lifted his hands and looked at the dark brown work gloves that covered them. No one had seen his hands yet. He had had those some gloves on when they arrived to pick him up.

Piper blamed the Rex Guardians for that.

They knew what was going on with Stork, but had insisted that the Storm Hawks accompany them into battle once before leaving again for who knew how long, and as the only member of the Storm Hawks who could currently drive the Condor worth anything, Piper had been forced to abandon Stork and go with them. He was waiting patiently at the door when they got back, wearing those same damn gloves.

One minute past the ultimatum. Then two. Then five. Stork kept looking from his hands to the console. Finally he reached out and rested the palms of his hands on the handles. Then he stopped. Gingerly, he curled his fingers around the bars. The last finger went down and he let out a small whimper. "Okay." He breathed. "You can do this." He pushed the steering forward and the Condor started moving. As silently as she could, Piper crept around the edge of the bridge so she could glimpse the side of his face. Stork was biting his lips and had his eyes glued to the completely clear sky in front of him. He leaned his entire body and the Condor turned ever so slightly. He gasped and quickly let go of the controls, folding his arms in front of him so his hands were resting in the crooks of his elbows. "Nnnngh…" A tear slid out of the corner of his eye and he turned his back on the bridge windows. "I'm sorry…" He mumbled. Piper stood and watched Stork walk silently out of the room without folowing or attempting to stop him. There was nothing for her to say.

* * *

_So sorry for the delay._

_Older brother wrecking his junker of a car + me in the passenger seat + ambulence + hospital + home late + sleeping = late post._

_Sorry._

_Reviews are nice, please leave me some!_

_My longing and my regrets, Dotskip._

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	4. wind

_If you can hold on  
If you can hold on, hold on  
I wanna stand up, I wanna let go  
You know, you know - no you don't, you don't  
I wanna shine on in the hearts of men  
I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand_

_I got soul, but I'm not a soldier  
I got soul, but I'm not a soldier_

_--"All These Things That I've Done" The Killers_

* * *

I can't believe it's been two months. Two months since I got my casts off. Stork sat in his room staring at his hands. _The others haven't caught on yet, at least not that I know of. They think I haven't even tried to fly her yet. Except Piper. Piper knows._ And she did. He didn't know how she knew, but he was sure she had somehow figured out that he had tried to fly the Condor and failed miserably. Well… maybe she didn't know that. He glanced over to the bag on his desk and they looked around the even sparser than usual walls of his room. "Only a few more hours and I won't be here to weigh you down any more, baby." He mumbled to the walls of his- _no- the Storm Hawks'_- air ship.

His eyes went back to his hands and he gingerly flexed his fingers. It didn't hurt as much now. He could hold onto things, just not turn them. And he couldn't fly. He closed his eyes tiredly. He had considered making one more attempt at flying the Condor before leaving, but it might wake the others and if he couldn't do it… it would hurt too much. He wouldn't be able to just walk away. If he tried and it meant ending his piloting career, it would have to mean ending his life as well.

"Stork!" Piper banged on his door and brought him out of the spiraling depression of his musings. Sighing, he pulled on his gloves and got up to answer the door. The plate of metal slid up and he looked at her. She had her hands on her hips and was giving him the same look she gave Finn when she caught him messing around in her crystal lab.

"Umm… did I do something?"

"No, and you're not going to either!" She marched into his room and picked up his bag off his desk, tossing it onto his bed and sitting down next to it; arms crossed defiantly.

Stork shook his head. "How'd you know I was going to leave tonight?"

"I pay attention, unlike some people, and I can tell when you're planning something!" Her face fell. "I can't believe you weren't even going to say goodbye."

He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I figured it would be easier on everyone, and once I found a different job I was going to come back so you would know I wasn't dead."

She jumped up. "Stork, that's just not fair! Not to the guys and not to yourself and not to me!"

"Why do you care so much anyway?!" He said, irritated, holding out his hands. That was the wrong move. Piper strode quickly across the room and took hold of his wrists.

"Why do you wear these gloves all the time? Some sort of mark of shame? You can't use them as well as you used to so they're not fit to be seen by society?"

"Don't touch the gloves." He muttered angrily, jerking out of her grasp and holding his hands beyond her reach.

"Why not?!"

"Because!"

"Stork, just let me-"

"No!"

"Just-"

"NO!" Frustrated, Piper grabbed the front of his uniform and pressed their lips together, shocking him into submission. His arms fell to his sides. She quickly broke away and caught his hands, tugging off his gloves in one swift motion. Stork was still staring at her, his mouth moving but no sound coming out.

She gasped. Where the bones ran along under his skin there were thick ridges of scar tissue, knotted crosses forming at each of his knuckles. He moved his fingers without thinking and she could see the thin folds of skin that extended, allowing him to bend his fingers. "Oh, Gods, Stork!" She cradled his hands in hers, oblivious to his stunned gaze.

"You- you just-"

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea it was this bad!"

"Piper, you just _kissed _me!"

"But-"

He grabbed her shoulders. "My hands will still be here in five minutes; could we please deal with the _you kissing me_ part first?!" Surprised at his outburst, they stood and looked at each other. Then Piper gently took his face in her hands and guided their lips together. It was a little bit awkward and a little bit hesitant at first, and it damn sure wasn't perfect, but it was _good_. Stork slid his arms around her and pulled her closer and realized that he hadn't had enough good in his life for going on a year; and he hadn't had this kind of good since- since- ever.

Fifteen minutes of kissing and murmured words later they disentangled themselves from one another's embrace. Piper looked up at him and smiled shyly. "You're still gonna be here in the morning, right?" Stork just nodded and watched her leave, an unconscious smile playing across his face.

* * *

Piper woke to the gentle thrumming of the Condor's engines and bolted upright. _Stork._ Stork almost leaving and then deciding to stay but- "_Shit._" –never actually saying he would. _That's just the kind of loophole he would use!_ She shot out of bed and ran down the hall toward the bridge. _Aerrow must be flying. I have to get him to turn around so we can find Stork and I can kick his butt for-_ the bridge doors flew open and she skidded to a halt.

Stork glanced over his shoulder at the crystal specialist and smiled teasingly. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Stork!" She launched herself at him, hitting him with a tight hug around his middle and bursting into tears, her sobs drowned out by her laughter.

Stork laid one hand on her head. "Piper, I know you're happy and everything, but could we do this later?" She looked up at him and he half-grinned. "It's kind of hard to steer even without you holding onto me."

Piper let go, still smiling and with tears streaming from her eyes. "Of course! I'll let you get back to it!" She backed away from him, unable to tear her eyes away, and almost ran into Aerrow who was coming through the door behind her.

"What's going on? I heard someone yelling!"

She gestured toward the pilot, smiling too hard to get any words out. "Stork- Stork-"

Aerrow followed her gaze, bewildered, and spotted the source of her excitement. Stork was standing at the controls of the Condor, fingers curled around the steering, and he was watching the skies in front of him with an air of confidence that Aerrow had never seen in him before.

Piper squeaked happily and waltzed into the kitchen to start cooking breakfast.

* * *

_I BLAME THE INTERNETS!!!!! They're the reason I haven't been able to post anything in so long. Because my internets are FAIL._

_And yes, Piper's making sandcakes._

_This last chapter could have drifted into the 'M' rating but I really didn't feel like typing it out as of yet, so let me know if you'd like a continuation into that catagory. (It will be posted as a separate story if that ends up happening, and if no one reviews or messages me saying they want it then don't worry; I won't waste your time.)_

_Chapters of other stuffs (read: "Dance With Me") will be posted momentarily, Dea willing._

_Review please!_

_My regrets and my gratitude, Dotskip._

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